the presence of God and see the King in His glory, when we gaze upon that glorious place in which we are to reside, our confession will be like that of Solomon’s visitor: “ The half was not told me.” Here, in the twilight of earth, the heart yearns for the sunnier clime o f Heaven. Trials, losses, tears, and graves create a longing for the land never ravaged by the sorrows and sins o f this mor tal life. We long for complete deliverance from a groaning and travailing creation. Death, as it touches some loved one of ours, turns our thoughts heavenward, perhaps more than any other experi ence. When a dear one, trusting in Christ, has been snatched from our side, we wonder what our de parted friend is doing in the life beyond the grave. We shall never know the full story until we arrive and see for ourselves. However, the Bible gives us a sufficient, though a partial revelation, o f that tear less, sinless, deathless home which God is prepar ing for all who love and trust Him. It is pleasing to Him that we should desire to know beforehand the information He has given about where we are to spend the eternal ages. The prospect of going to a new home always creates a special interest. For example, as a young man, before I left Australia to reside in America, I spent a great deal of time gathering information about this country. Every atlas in my father’s home was consulted and marked. The time-tables of American railroads were eagerly perused, and lit erature pertaining to the United States was studied carefully. You see, I was planning to live here, and I wanted to know about my new home in advance. My friends, if God has invited us to spend eter nity in another realm with Him, then it is to be expected that He has recorded important facts in His Word about that “ land o f pure delight.” As children of God, we should dwell more and more on the subject o f Heaven. Nothing else will so surely help to sanctify our hearts and lives and tend to separate us from the things that mar our testimony as will a contemplation of our high call ing in Christ Jesus and our eternal abiding with Him. Nothing else will cheer us as will the pros pect of being at home with the Lord. How blessedly comforting are the words of our Saviour that He uttered when He was about to leave earth and return to Heaven: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:1-3). CAN WE KNOW THAT THERE IS A HEAVENLY CITY AND A LIFE ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ A F T E I M I E A T H ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ The Apostle Paul, in discussing the believer and
his relation to death and eternity, makes these statements that ring with confidence: “ For we know that, if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens (2 Cor. 5:1). “ We are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:6). Science and philosophy, being unmixed with faith in the declarations of the Word of God, can return no complete answer to Nature’s two mys teries, life and death. That is the reason the ancient heathen often would build great tombs over their dead and carve upon them inverted torches. They could not represent the torch as being extinguished, because they still loved the departed one, and how could they love—nothing? They dared not put the torch erect in a strong hand, because they did not know for a certainty that it still burned, and that life continued after death. It seemed to them that it had gone out. Again, the ancient Greeks symbolized by means of a broken column a life terminated in death. The firm-set foundation, the sculptured base, the fluted shaft—these were there. But when the eye, craving completeness, looked for the crown at the top of the structure, there was none to be seen — only a sharp fracture. The memorial stood there, a beauti ful fragment, supporting nothing and ending no where. No doubt many have seen the broken col umn even in this day, but perhaps did not know that this concept originated with the ancient Greeks who attempted to express that, in spite of their advanced philosophy, they did not know whether life continued after death. Over against the horror o f the heathen’s despair and of the unbeliever’s dreadful uncer tainty, we place these words of divine assurance: “We know!” Why may we be so sure? Heaven is not an un explored country as skeptics would have us be lieve. The apostle who wrote the words which have just been quoted had himself been “ caught up to the third heaven . . . into paradise, and [had] heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (2 Cor. 12:2, 4). Again, John, called “ the beloved disciple,” had been given on the Isle of Patmos such a clear vision of the land of glory that it doubtless became as familiar to him as the scenes o f your home town are familiar to you. But most convincing of all is the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is “ at home” in Heaven. He has lived there through past ages, and (reverently we say it) He ought to know something about this glorious place! He does know,, and He does tell us—all that it is needful for us to know now. What greater assurance could one ask for than that which the Lord already has provided ?
1»
FEBRUARY, 1969
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker